The Duchess
by SLovingLecter
Summary: She hated him, for everything he had done to them, the damage he had caused, the suffering and pain he had left behind. She hated him… Didn't she? Emilia comes face to face with the leader of the Saviors and his true nature, which in turn has her questioning her own.
1. Chapter 1

**The Duchess**

Pairing: Negan/OC

Part One

She hadn't been there when they had lost Abraham and Glenn, when they were so brutally confronted with the Saviors and their leader, but the stories had been enough. Carl had told her, word for word everything that had happened and she could almost hear his voice in her head.

Negan

She hadn't met him but Carl's description had been so detailed, the hatred in his eyes as he spoke, not realising tears tracked their way down from his one good eye as he recalled the scene.

Are we pissing our pants yet?

She hated him.

She didn't even know him, but she hated him with such a passion it felt all consuming. Abraham had been such a good guy, and Glenn… Poor Maggie.

It hurt too much to think about and so she shut it out and kept herself busy. She couldn't imagine how they had endured the pain, how Rick had done what he had. He seemed hollow now, empty, but that hadn't lessened her respect for him. If anything it had made it grow. He refused to allow his pride to get in the way, to let his ego be the reason for more death.

Daryl.

She rubbed at her chest with her knuckles as it ached in pain. She missed him.

She hadn't been with their group for as long as some of the others, but they had let her in all the same, welcomed her as one of their own. After the initial suspicion had worn off of course.

They didn't understand how she had survived on her own in an unfamiliar land, but this was home now, these people were home and she was damned if she'd lose any more of them to some sick psychopath with a baseball bat.

She hadn't been there when they'd lost two of their best, but she had witnessed their return. There was no other word for it… They had been broken.

Maggie was gone, Sasha had accompanied her for medical aid to The Hilltop and she marveled at the strength of her friends. Maggie had lost her husband, the father of her child and yet she remained so strong. She wished she could be with them, supporting her friend.

But she was needed here.

Judith needed her.

It was a mark of Rick's trust in her that she was the one to protect the infant. She had found Alexandria shortly before Rick had arrived but didn't belong with the people who already lived here. They were so sheltered and naive. She had been out there, alone… Well, almost.

Logan was her only companion since it had started and she envied them their bubble of denial, hated them for it- almost.

Daryl had understood. For weeks he had refused to even go inside the buildings. That was when they had become friends, camping outside together as he told her about his brother, about Beth, about everything they had lost. Daryl's acceptance and trust had opened the door to Rick's group. They were selective about who they trusted, it was still very much an us/them situation with the Alexandrians. But she felt that she belonged with Rick's group, people who had seen the world for what it was now, who had fought to survive.

She smiled to herself as she remembered Daryl approaching the subject of teaching her to fight, he hadn't known at that point that she hadn't been in Alexandria since the beginning. She had decided to allow him his chivalry, until during the training he had grabbed her from behind and her self defense training had kicked in. He landed flat on his backside and laughed, hard.

It was the first time anyone had heard him laugh since they'd lost Beth…

She shook herself from her reverie as the pain in her chest increased. She missed her friend, her brother, just as Rick did.

But for now they were scavenging, trying to find anything they could to give to the 'Saviors' so that no one else died. It had been a few days since their return and Rick was almost always out on supply runs, as was everyone who was able. She had been asked to protect Judith, she had only nodded as she met Rick's eyes, she could see the plea in there. With her came Logan, he was forever at her side and before she had met Rick's group thought he was the only companion she'd ever need.

She cooed at Judith as the girl grabbed a fist of her hair in her chubby little hand, persuading her to let go as she bounced her on her hip. Logan watched from his seat beside her cot, his head tilting and those large pointed ears twitched as he became aware of the approaching noise before she did. She looked out the window as she finally heard the sound of vehicles pull up. Large ones. She heard the hiss of air as the brakes squeaked against the heavy load of the vehicles they were stopping.

Quickly she placed Judith in her cot and shushed her softly as she began to whine at being put down. She looked at Logan, placing one hand out in front of her in the universally known sign for 'stay', he understood. His two large front paws shifted forward as he laid beside Judith's cot and placed his head upon them, his amber eyes watching her carefully.

"Good boy." She mumbled softly as she backed out of the room, being sure to lock the door behind her and secure the key in her inner jacket pocket. She knew Judith was safe with Logan, should anyone try to force their way in they'd soon regret it. She made her way downstairs and outside.

She had been right. Three lorries were making their way through the gates and strange men were infiltrating houses. Her fists clenched hard as she watched the bewildered expressions of the Alexandrians as their possessions were removed from their houses.

Her gaze moved over the gathered crowds and found Rick. Dangling from his fingertips, almost brushing the concrete was a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Her heart froze in her chest as she heard a deep, authoritative voice.

"We really are reasonable people when you get to know us! Honest."

Her eyes quickly found him, he was hard to miss. Tall and broad shouldered with thick dark hair and a salt and pepper beard. He even had his back to Rick as he bent down into a cooler to remove a can of pop, completely unfazed that he'd left himself vulnerable to a man who despised him. Cocky son of a… She watched Rick for a moment, waiting. A beat, he only stood with his head bowed submissively, looking at the ground. She swallowed the resentment she felt building and ascended the steps, deliberately bashing her shoulder against the tubby man who waddled his way up, clearly making his way to the kitchen as he leered at her. He stumbled and she smirked as she watched him right himself. She was already passed him before he had time to retaliate.

As she approached she saw a figure stood behind both Rick and him. She hadn't noticed before but it was like a swift punch to the gut when she realized who it was. She faltered in her step toward them as she looked him over. What had they done to him?

Rick saw her first and his eyes widened in alarm as he glanced to Negan. But it was too late, the man in question let out a low whistle as he saw her. She didn't look at him though, she couldn't tear her eyes away from Daryl who looked overcome as he too bowed his head, his stringy hair swinging forward to hide his bruised face.

"Well, well what have we got here!" His voice was graveled and deep and it shot right through to her core. It was clear to everyone the excitement in his tone. "Just when I thought this place couldn't get any better! And what is your name beautiful?"

Her eyes remained glued to Daryl.

Negan clearly disliked being ignored for he stepped up close to her and angled his shoulders to the right, following her gaze to the man who was like a brother to her.

"Nuh-uh-uhh sweetheart. You weren't there at the gate when I laid down the rules so i'll repeat them for you, just this once. You do not look at him, you do not talk to him, do I make myself clear?"

She said nothing, only ground her teeth together as her fists clenched. Her eyes darted to Rick who nodded once. She lowered her gaze, biting the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood to stop herself from lashing out and doing something stupid.

"There's a good girl, now I wont ask again. What is your name?" His breath fanned across her face and the smell of whisky and peppermint followed. Rage boiled inside her as he chuckled richly, clearly enjoying her anger as he observed her clenched fists and trembling shoulders.

"Go fuck yourself." Both Daryl and Rick's eyes shoot between her and Negan in concern, she wasn't afraid of him and met his dark eyes head on. He rocked backward and turned around to Rick, glee apparent as a wide grin stretched across his face.

"Ho-oly fuck." He exclaimed. "Where have you been hidin' her? Do my ears deceive me, or is that a British accent I hear?" He feigned a shiver and rolled his shoulders in excitement. "I'm gettin' all kinds of aroused just thinking about the fun we could have darlin', though you still haven't told me your name."

She grit her teeth together hard and stared him down, he tilted his head as he stepped closer, pressing against her and she had to tilt her head back so she could keep her eyes locked with his, he was so much taller than her.

"Well, now aint you a little firecracker." He lowered the tone of his voice, somehow it was both threatening and suggestive as he continued. "Be careful with how you lookin' at me sweetheart, that glare is gonna have me thinkin' you either wanna fuck me or kill me." He smiled at her charmingly, his tongue passing over his teeth once, his face was so close to hers that she was sure he would feel her heart pounding in her chest.

"I can assure you it's the latter." She said, not backing down an inch, though feeling somewhat irritated at how her accent became more pronounced in her fury. He laughed and ran his tongue across his bottom lip, he turned to look at Rick, apparently mouthing the word 'Wow!' before looming over her again.

"I'm really tryin' here so i'd appreciate it if you'd do the same. I'm not sure I could be angry with you, especially when you talk in that sexy fucking accent…" A warning coated his tone now, the danger shot sparks up her spine and she felt her heart race. "However if you continue to be rude we might see how angry I can really get. And Lucille here…" He swung the bat upward so that the barbed wire end became visible in her peripheral vision.

"Emilia, stop." Rick's voice was commanding and worried, it was enough for her to reluctantly drop her eyes and Negan chuckled again, his voice rich with innuendo.

"Emilia huh? He-lloo Emilia. I'm Negan." He took a step back and offered her his hand, his eyes alight with enjoyment as he watched her struggle with herself. One glance at Daryl and his condition was enough, she couldn't have him suffering for her pride. She forcefully put her hand in his, noting with disgust he hadn't offered the glove clad hand, so her skin made contact with his. She'd expected his hand to be cold, as cold and dead as his heart, but it threw her when she made contact with warm, slightly roughened skin.

He grinned broadly with uncontrollable delight and bent forward over her hand. She felt revulsion crawl up her spine as he placed his lips against her knuckles, his beard lightly scratched the skin there.

"See, I know how to respect a lady!" He straightened and she tried to pull her hand from his grip, but he wouldn't let her, his much larger hand enveloped hers and his thumb caressed a recent split in one of her knuckles. It stung but she was glad for that. It reminded her of who this was.

"Negan!" A voice called and the man in question licked his lips one last time as his eyes ran over her from head to toe, before he finally released her hand and turned to his man.

"This is something you might wanna see." The shorter man passed him the video camera Deanna had used to record their interviews. Negan turned his attention to Rick again now and she felt grateful for the momentary reprieve. He stepped away from her to taunt their leader, Rick's voice came from the small device, his voice sounding muffled as it crackled through the speakers.

"I would not have messed with that guy." Negan goaded, raising the camera and leaning back to make sure he captured the broken man Rick now appeared to be. "But that's not you anymore… is it? Nope!"

He swung the camera around and now she was his focus again, he circled her before taking a lock of her brunette hair and twirling it around his gloved finger.

"And what about you darlin', you on here too? Fuck you look almost as good on camera as you do in real life. Look at that mouth." She heard the mechanisms in the camera moving as he zoomed in on her lips and she bit her lower lip furiously, trying to restrain herself from saying something she would regret. "Shit… Are you trying to give me a hard on? Cause I think it's working… Do that again for me."

"Stop." Ricks voice saved her again and Negan turned on the spot, shutting the camera and pocketing it as he approached the other man.

"Careful…" Negan intoned, his light, sing-song tone conflicting with the threat of his words. He stooped and lowered his head to meet Rick's gaze head on. His body language screamed dominance and her heart sped up as Rick glared back.

"Careful how you lookin' at me Rick."


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

Rick dropped his eyes and Negan straightened, clapping his hands together in glee as he looked around at their haul and winking at her as his eyes passed over her again.

"Whatever happened to that sick girl? It seemed like a hell of a stressful night for her. The way she was carrying on she was married to number two right?" Rick's fingers clenched around the baseball bat as Negan continued to bait him. Enjoyment lighting is dark eyes as he relished in Rick's reaction.

"Widows, especially ones that look like that… They are special. I love 'em. Right after their husbands go they're just _empty_ inside." He turned to look at Emilia again before he continued, his tongue flicked out to wet his lips, his tone was suggestive. "But usually not for lo-ong."

"Where is she?" He laughed, his eyes carefully observing her, almost as though he was hoping from a reaction from her. "I would love to see her."

"Would you care to pay your respects?" He broke his gaze from her to spin, turning to see Father Gabriel.

"Holy crap! You are creepy as shit, sneaking up on me wearing that collar with that creepy ass smile." He looked at Rick, his face suddenly solemn as he connected the dots and asked "She didn't make it?"

Emilia remained rooted to the spot as they left to 'pay their respects', Negan threw one last look at her over his shoulder, flashing her that pearly white smile. It was a clever ruse of Gabriel's, but she still didn't like him, didn't trust him. He made her skin crawl almost as much as Negan did…

She made her way back to the house, she needed to check on Judith. Her heart was still pounding in her chest and she was almost oblivious to her surroundings until a gunshot rung out from below her. She froze and waited, praying Judith wouldn't cry out at the noise. A moment passed in silence and she made her choice, knowing the child was safe with Logan she took the stairs two at a time and went back down to see Carl in the living room, his gun raised at two of Negan's men.

Negan was first in the front door, however he paused upon seeing her on the final step and his eyes travelled her body as Rick brushed passed him, not even noticing her as he entered the living room.

"He-llo again, beautiful." He whispered, that smirk was on his face again as he placed his hands in his pockets and licked his lips. "If you'll excuse me, Milady. Duty calls." He whispered the last part, pointing to the doorway with his gloved hand before he mockingly bowed and entered the room, just as Rick was begging Carl to lower the weapon.

She heard the exchange but tried to tune it out. She needed to focus, she refused to admit his charm was affecting her. She was used to scumbags, to lowlife men who thought they could get into her pants however they chose. Him though. His manner disarmed her and also put her back up. She didn't know where she stood with him and that frightened her more than she cared to admit.

When she came back to herself she heard Negan tell Rick he wanted all their guns, she closed her eyes and cursed Carl and his impulsive nature. They'd never know now if they'd have been able to keep any, if he would have even asked for them before this moment had occurred. As they made their way out of the house she got another one of those looks from Negan and her grip tightened on the handrail as he chuckled.

Once they were gone she took a moment to check on Judith. Who, miraculously, was still fast asleep with one chubby arm extended through the wooden bars to grip Logan's black fur tightly. The canine lifted his head as she entered and she took a step forward to pet him on the head once before she locked the door behind her again and made her way to the lockup. She wouldn't hide inside and let him hurt anyone and if Judith hadn't needed watching she'd have taken Logan too, his presence at her side had always bolstered her courage, not to mention made everyone else shit their pants when they saw him.

She'd got him as a pup from a farm where the farmer's bitch regularly wandered the fields and had ended up pregnant. The farmer had guessed with some wild dog or neighbours pet as he didn't have a male. Logan was the only pup who had survived the litter of three and the farmer didn't have the time or inclination to raise him, she'd fallen in love with the small fluffball as soon as she'd laid eyes on him. Though he'd soon grown out of that stage and fast, his mother had been a pure bred black German Shepherd so she'd known he'd be large, but as he'd grown bigger she began to believe the farmers dog had mated with a coyote or wolf, his build was all muscle and his head came up to her stomach when they stood side by side. She wasn't exactly tall, standing at 5 foot 3 most people eclipsed her in height, but with Logan at her side she felt 10 feet tall.

He'd been invaluable to her and when the apocalypse had begun, she was terrified of losing him to walkers, but he had the natural instincts of a predator and this world suited him more than that of a house pet. The first time he'd ripped the throat out of a walker she was terrified she'd lose him, he must have swallowed so much of the rotten blood she was sure he'd be infected.

But he never turned, never died, and had watched her back and saved her life on more than one occasion.

She would have loved to see the faces of Negan's men when confronted with him, but he was where he needed to be.

It would seem she had perfect timing for when she arrived Negan was towering over Rick again, she caught the tail end of their conversation.

"But what I really wanna know is if we're gonna find all the guns back there or if maybe you've got a few just… waiting for their moment. Just like my Lucille."

"They're all in there, to the best of my knowledge." Rick said, turning his face away from Negan whilst the baseball bat still hung from his fingertips.

Those dark eyes captured her as he smirked, the tips of his teeth showing. "Mmm! I am countin' on that Rick." He swiftly turned around leaving Rick standing alone, she approached her leader and looked down at the bat with disgust. Rick followed her gaze and his jaw flexed as he ground his teeth together in frustration. She placed a hand on his bicep, trying to offer what little comfort she could. She understood what he was doing, why he was going along with Negan's games and Rick raised his icy blue eyes to hers and she could see the thanks in his gaze. She smiled at him softly.

"Nuh-uh-uh, I do not like that." Negan's voice echoed and she looked up to see him stood in the shadows, watching her. "He's already got his hands on my Lucille, I can't be lettin' him have both my ladies. Come on darlin' you can show me how you handle a dangerous weapon." The innuendo coated his tone and made her cheeks colour as she met Rick's eyes, he nodded minutely, telling her to do as she was told.

As always, she followed her leaders orders.

She bit her lip hard as Negan draped his leather clad arm over her shoulder and shot a look at Rick before letting her lead him to the guns.

He soon got bored of watching his men count guns and so made his way outside with Rick. She stayed with Olivia, offering moral support as the strangers surrounded her and whilst most were men, one woman in particular seemed to have a stick up her ass.

"They don't add up." The woman glared. "You can explain this to Negan."

The woman moved to grab Olivia and Emilia immediately grabbed her wrist. "You don't want to do that." She warned, hating the way Olivia cowered away from these lowlife bullies.

"You don't want to do that." She mimicked in a terrible attempt at an english accent whilst her other men laughed. "Yeah? And are you gonna fucking stop me you stupid bitch?" The woman's lip curled up in contempt as she pushed Olivia backward. Emilia watched her stumble and land hard on the floor, her cry of pain was the final trigger and she finally unleashed the anger that had been building within her since hearing what had happened that night. Emilia drove her elbow up into the other woman's face and heard a satisfying crunch as she made impact with her nose.

"Ungh!" The woman grunted, her hands going up to her bleeding nose. "Somwub fucking holb her!"

Three men descended on her and Emilia threw her head backward, connecting with the face of whoever had tried to restrain her. They let go in shock and she crouched, sweeping her foot on the ground to knock the other two of balance. She stamped her foot down on the eye socket of the biggest man, enjoying his scream as he rolled over and clutched at his head.

Unfortunately the noise had attracted the attention of Negan's remaining men and they descended on her en masse. She couldn't fight them all and It took five to restrain her as the woman with the broken nose repeatedly punched her, splitting her lip and making her jaw throb.

They dragged her upstairs along with Olivia and she heard Rick and Negan's conversation halt as she was forced in front of them.

"Arat we don't do that, unless they do something to deserve it." His voice held something, anger perhaps? She couldn't tell, the throbbing of her jaw took away most of her thought process. At least she knew the name of the coward who'd had to have her restrained to hit her.

"Yeah, do you call breaking my nose something to deserve it?" Arat removed her hand to show the stream of blood and crooked break in her bone.

"Ouch…" Negan leant in closer, his eyes moved over me and the five men who were having a difficult time restraining me. "She did that to you?"

"I paid her back." Arat said proudly and Emilia spat blood at her feet, her eyes sparking with fury.

"Only after I'd taken three of you out and you had to get five of these morons to restrain me so you could actually get a hit in. Lets go now, one on one and we'll see who pays who back."

Negan's brows narrowed and his tongue passed over his teeth thoughtfully. "Let her go. Now."

The hands immediately let go and she fell to the ground, grimacing as her knees met the gravel. His boots appeared in her field of view and she looked up to see him offering her his gloved hand. She took it and stood, aware of the blood dribbling down her chin but she was more concerned about keeping her legs from shaking after the adrenaline come-down.

Negan seemed fascinated as he watched, his dark eyes holding something she couldn't read as his bare thumb wiped at the split in her lip. She grimaced at the sting and his eyes shot back to hers.

"Three of my men? Well Duchess, I can see I underestimated you. Arat what do you say? I myself wouldn't mind watching a little girl-on-girl action." He grinned with barely suppressed glee but his eyes scanned her jaw as he took her chin in his thumb and forefinger to get a better look.

"Sir?…" Arat sounded confused, fearful and reluctant.

"No, of course you don't want to. Because you know that you'd fuckin' lose. What started this Duchess?" He turned back to Emilia, indicating toward her face with his large, tanned hand. He clearly liked the new nickname he'd thought of for her, seeing as he'd used it twice in the last two sentences. She licked her dry lips, appreciating the sting of pain and taste of blood as it helped her gather herself. Negan however seemed more fascinated with the sight of blood on her tongue, his eyes watched her mouth intently.

"She went to grab Olivia. I told her not to touch her. She then asked me what I was going to do about it, I took that as an invitation to show her." Negan chuckled appreciatively and his tongue swiped over his lips, mimicking hers, before he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and lead forward.

"I really fuckin' like you Duchess. Don't tell them though, Rick might get jealous." He whispered in her ear and as he pulled back he flashed her that wide grin. He then turned to Arat who told him that the guns were short, which was why she had been bringing Olivia up.

What happened after was a blur, she could hear he was pissed, threatening to kill Olivia, but she didn't have much strength left after what had just happened. How had she gotten so weak, living behind these walls? Olivia whimpered as Negan approached her, his threatening tone made it clear what his intentions were. Emilia tried to step forward but her limbs shook and the world shifted around her. When she expected to meet the hard floor, strong arms came around her and a waft of leather hit her as her face pressed against the cool material.

"I knew i'd sweep you off your feet." He whispered against her cheek before turning to talk to Rick, whilst hoisting her bridal style into his arms. She was pleased to hear he was giving Rick time to speak to the others, to find the missing guns. But unhappy to hear that she and Olivia would be remaining with Negan whilst that happened.

She pushed her hands against his strong chest as he walked away from Rick with her in his arms, Olivia following behind meekly, her head bowed over her ever present clipboard.

"Put me down, I can walk." She said through clenched teeth, her jaw throbbed painfully as she spoke.

"I've no doubt of that sweetheart, but I enjoy carryin' you." The suggestive tone in his voice made her cheeks flush and she was grateful he couldn't see from his vantage point. "Up close and personal…" He breathed, bathing her in the scent peppermint and whisky again. She tried not to think about his fingertips on her side, she could feel the heat of his hand through the thin cotton of her tank top and he seemed to be tracing circles over her ribcage. She tried to reach for the disgust she had felt upon their first meeting, but to her irritation it seemed to have momentarily fled.

She was grateful when they reached the house Negan had chosen, though he seemed reluctant to let her down.

"Hm, maybe we should walk round again…" He murmured as he looked disapprovingly at the couch, she'd had enough of his hands on her and his grip tightened as she pushed at his chest again, this time forcing him to let her down. Her legs felt much more stable beneath her and she glared at him, his eyes flicked from hers down to her lips and he smirked at her.


End file.
